We're on a crusade for access to public records

At the start of my career, I had to research local real estate deals and property tax assessments. I spent a spent a lot of time in the offices of the county board of taxation, sifting through years of property tax appeal cases.

Among other duties, tax boards hear appeals from property owners - who almost always complain their assessments are too high. A favorable ruling usually translates into a lower property tax bill.

Why did we care? It was as simple as A-B-C:

A. One of the board members owned property with a local attorney.

B. The attorney appealed those properties' tax assessments.

C. The board member - who was the property co-owner - voted for lower assessments.

Ouch. Using one's public office for private gain is, of course, your basic conflict of interest.

I was dispatched to research every tax appeal from several years - about 31/2 trillion, if I recall - to document what had happened and to nose around for other possible misconduct. On Day One, the secretary to the tax board listened patiently to my request, then began lugging manila folders to a conference room table for my review.

The secretary knew what we were investigating; it was the talk of the county administration building. We were examining possible unethical behavior of one his bosses. If he could, I suspect he would have been more comfortable blocking access.

Instead, he told me: "Take your time. Let me know how I can help. After all, these are public records.''

It's a good thing I didn't get used to such treatment, because in the years since government has gone out of its way to make such access more difficult.

New Jersey's Open Public Records Act (OPRA) the 11-year-old law governing public requests for public documents, was intended to make such requests easier. Yet OPRA does anything but. For instance:

? OPRA permits public entities to take up to 7 days to respond to a request for public records. By its actions, government operates as if it has to take seven days before responding to even the simplest request.

? In adopting OPRA, the New Jersey Legislature included 24 exemptions from disclosure of public records. One exemption: the Legislature itself. This is like the inmates of a prison voting to exempt themselves from prison rules and applicable laws against highway robbery.

? OPRA allows public entities to pass along the cost of providing public records to the people who own them in the first place - us. This is like Mom telling Dad he can't look in the refrigerator he purchased at the food which he bought until he pays the electricity bill he, you know, already pays.

Gannett's New Jersey newspapers make continuous requests for public records - to track government spending, official conduct and litigation. One request uncovered $3.9 million in payments to settle 27 charges of sexual harassment against state employees.

Often, government foot-dragging is followed by a government refusal - typically ill-considered and often inflicting economic pain on taxpayers. In one instance, a county that illegally withheld a 911 tape for three years was ordered to reimburse our $75,000 legal bill.

Government officials often treat public records laws as more a nuisance and a harassment tool of citizens rather than a vital mechanism in an open government. If they keep resisting, we'll just take our records back and keep them in the refrigerator.

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We're on a crusade for access to public records

At the start of my career, I had to research local real estate deals and property tax assessments. I spent a spent a lot of time in the offices of the county board of taxation, sifting through years

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